It was a tough Saturday for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team at the Autodrom Most (Czech Republic). At the end of a Superpole session that once again was affected by many yellow flags, Michael Rinaldi and Alvaro Bautista found themselves in third and seventh position on the grid, respectively.
The starting positions, however, were changed within minutes after leaving the pits, forcing Rinaldi and Bautista to drop back to eighth and fourteenth places. The light rain that fell earlier in the day further complicated the situation. Both riders started on wet tyres and then returned to the pit garages to mount the slicks after a few laps. The accumulated gap, however, was too big for them to make up positions.
Alvaro Bautista finished in 12th position while Michael Rinaldi was 14th under the chequered flag.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #1)
“It was a tough Saturday. Once again, the yellow flags affected Superpole, although I honestly don’t understand why the lap was cancelled. We also had a small mishap during the tyre change that made me lose a few seconds, but the chance to stay within the leading group was compromised anyway. The positive side? I did a lot of laps on dry tyres to improve the feeling, and for that, I am satisfied”.
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“I want to see the positive side of a bad day. In FP3, we made a good step forward regarding my feeling with the bike, which gives me confidence ahead of tomorrow’s two races. Finding yourself in eighth position after taking the bike to the parc fermé at the end of Superpole is something I struggle to understand. We have to think about tomorrow, though”.
- WorldSSP
It was a perfect Saturday for Nicolò Bulega and the Ducati Panigale V2 of the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team. The Italian rider took Pole Position and dominated Race-1 from start to finish.
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
“I am delighted. So far, we have done an excellent job. I’m back to having an incredible feeling with my bike, something I had missed at Imola. I remain focused. I want to close the weekend and go on holiday in the best possible way.”
